Dog days on B’way

B.O. tally drops but does better than 2000

Broadway lurched into its seasonal decline as B.O. fell $504,365 — or 3.8% — to end with a total tally of $12,474,252 for the week. However, a year ago, those late August figures came in just under $12 million.

Only four of the 26 shows now on the boards managed to improve even marginally, except for one spectacular case: In its closing week, “Riverdance” exploded with a $163,297 gain over the previous session. The show went out with a final total of $871,962, performing at 98.8% capacity.

Only “The Producers” and “The Lion King,” with their 101% caps, did better percentages. Those two sold-out shows also saw small upticks at the box office, as did “Blast!,” which rose $1,268 to finish with $382,411 on its gross potential of $902,406. The marching-band musical saw the lowest average price for a tuner, at $40.41.

New comedy “If You Ever Leave Me” took that honor ($36.41) in the play category, with the average price of “Stones in His Pockets” ($39.13) not far ahead.

Several musicals experienced significant dips at the box office. Steepest declines afflicted “Beauty and the Beast” (down $55,682), “42nd Street” (down $58,228), “Les Miserables” (down $60,414), “The Phantom of the Opera” (down $66,139) and “Annie Get Your Gun” (down $55,904), which posted its notice to close Sept. 1. In its penultimate week, the Irving Berlin revival did $361,979 on its potential of $910,495.

The $50,140 plummet at “The Rocky Horror Show” represented almost a quarter of the previous week’s B.O. The transgender tuner took in a final cume of $155,766, its lowest to date.

“Kiss Me, Kate” also set a record bottom, of $387,591, as its receipts fell $33,231.

“Fosse” put in its final week on the boards. Dropping $10,551 from the previous session, the long-running hoofer show grossed $437,759 against a potential of $668,100.